“It wasn’t an easy topic to explain to a little girl. I never expected I’d need to prepare an answer so soon. But I want her to grow up so she’ll find out the truth.”
‘Why’s there no daddy in our home?’ I couldn’t speak the truth. I never expected the question so early.’: Single mom discusses divorce with children, ‘They should make their own decisions’
‘When my mother passed away, someone started drama. We were gossiped about and given a cold shoulder when all we needed was a hug.’: Woman urges ‘unsubscribe from their mess’
“There will ALWAYS be people in your life who will make your pain about them. Their hearts are so backward, they will not only be mad when you’re on the mountaintop, but they’ll be jealous of the attention you’re getting in the valley.”
‘My dad is the town crackhead. He cried when he met my son for the first time. Every year for my birthday, he gets me a present.’: Daughter to addict urges ‘he was someone before drugs’
“Next time you see an addict on the street and you think they’re just a junkie or piece of garbage, please remember that’s someone’s family, someone’s dad, someone son, someone’s sibling, and they were someone before drugs or alcohol took them over. My dad may be an addict, but he never stops trying.”
‘Black women are resilient because we have to be, not because we are stronger than you.’: Woman urges ‘our pain is real, physical and emotional’
“The Strong Black woman stereotype implies we are strong, which should be a good thing, but it often isn’t so.”
‘Call your work, Dan’s work, Dan’s best friend, and then give me your phone.’ I felt guilty for falling asleep, for not being strong enough to give him CPR.’: Widow credits ‘tribe’ for healing through grief
“Living in the thick of the fire, my tribe was there to hold my hand as I walked through. I found myself sitting on a doctor’s couch the following Tuesday, sobbing tears of grief and agony. They helped me make sense of the madness and encouraged me to feel again.”
‘Starved for love, I made disastrous decisions. Eventually, I turned to food. I weighed in at 391 pounds, my body just as unhealthy as my soul.’: Survivor details battle with demons, ‘I am a beautiful disaster’
“Frozen in fear, you lay in your bed with that twisted knot in your stomach. There is always the question: who protected the little girl with the big, brown eyes? The answer? A resounding no one. I was a little girl.”
‘There’s no way to prove he didn’t know you didn’t want it.’ Fighting back tears, I said, ‘I was asleep.’: Sexual assault survivor represses memory for 3 years. ‘If this is what I needed to go through to learn all of this, then I am thankful’
“Every so often, the officer would say, ‘It doesn’t seem like you knew him really well.’ I was getting so frustrated. Does it matter? Would that change things?”
‘How are you holding up?’ I gripped the steering wheel, my eyes so blurry I couldn’t see the road. She isn’t a friend I talk with often, but she’s a friend who asks the tough questions, and then just shuts up.’: Woman thankful for true friend during hardships
“My mom had just been diagnosed with advanced cancer, and I was also busy caring for a newborn along with a potty-training two-year-old. ‘How are you REALLY holding up?’ She gave me THE LOOK—you know, the ‘don’t BS with me’ look.”
‘I cried at Walmart this morning and wiped away tears as I stared at all the empty shelves. This is the most comfort I’ve felt in a while.’: Woman says ‘this virus has done very ugly things, but it has also brought us together’
“The board games are gone because families are playing together. Paint is wiped out because people are creatively expressing themselves. Children’s books are missing because parents and siblings are reading to each other. Around 5:00 p.m. EVERY evening, the driveways down my street are full of families and their kids playing in the yard.”
‘The word ‘miscarriage’ sounds like the woman miss-carried and she’s to blame for her loss. And you know what, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.’: After miscarriage, woman says ‘there is pain because there is and was love’
“I was pregnant for a few short days with baby #4 only to have that ‘PREGNANT’ reading turn to ‘NOT PREGNANT’ in a matter of 72 hours. I had gotten excited. I had told the kids. When a woman miscarries, she will never not be carrying the pain of that loss within her. I beg you, don’t dare miss a chance at being there for her. It was me. It could be you. Or it might be her.”
